Page 162 of Pietro

Still, she doesn't speak.

"You're dripping on my carpet," I say, keeping my voice neutral.

She blinks, looks down at the puddle forming around her boots. "Sorry, I?—"

"Sit." I gesture to one of the leather chairs across from my desk. "Before you collapse."

She moves like she's walking through quicksand, each step careful. When she sits, she perches on the edge of the chair, ready to run. Smart girl.

Though if she needs to run from me, she's already lost.

I push the whiskey across the desk. "Drink."

Her hand trembles as she reaches for it, and she has to use both hands to bring the glass to her lips. The first sip makes her cough, but she takes another anyway. Color starts returning to her cheeks.

"Better?"

She nods, sets the glass down carefully. Her fingers twist in her lap, and I notice her nails are bitten down to the quick. When she finally speaks, her voice is barely above a whisper.

"You saved my life once."

I wait. Let the silence stretch until she has to fill it.

"I need you to do it again."

Jesus fucking Christ.

The curse ricochets through my skull while I keep my expression blank. This is exactly what I don't need. A Torrino sitting in my office at three in the morning, asking for protection.

"That's a heavy request, Miss Torrino."

"I know what I'm asking." Her chin lifts, and for a second I see something fierce underneath the fear. "I know who you are. What you are. I know coming here makes me a traitor to my family."

"Then why?"

She reaches into her coat pocket, and I see Dante shift slightly. But she only pulls out a flash drive, sets it on my desk between us.

"Because in ten days, I'm supposed to marry Daniil Morozov." Her voice cracks on his name. "And I'd rather be a living traitor than a dead bride."

The name hangs in the air like a loaded gun. Morozov. The Russian psychopath who's been turning Chicago's underworld into his personal playground. The one who supposedly left his last girlfriend in pieces—literally.

And Francesco's selling his own niece to him.